The Tempe Improv is closing June 1

The Tempe Improv will close its doors Friday, June 1, the comedy club announced in an aggressively stated press release that placed the blame on competing comedy club Stand Up Live.

The Tempe club, which opened in September 1988, was the prime Valley comedy club for more than two decades, presenting such comics as Jerry Seinfeld, George Lopez and David Spade. But things have quieted in recent months since the Phoenix opening of Stand Up Live in 2011.

"In one year Stand Up Live has taken virtually all of the comics that the Tempe Improv developed during its 23 year history," the release states.

The release alleges that a former Improv booker, Robert Hartmann, shared "proprietary business information" with Joel Bachkoff, a Stand Up Live owner, including which comedians fared well in the Valley market. The release includes cell phone numbers for both Hartmann and Bachkoff.

Hartmann was unaware of the release when contacted and declined comment until he could read it.

Personal Publicity, representing Stand Up Live, issued a statement: "We're surprised to hear that the Tempe Improv is closing. As with any story, there's always two sides and we will share ours at the appropriate time. We appreciate your understanding."

Mark Anderson, founder of the Tempe Improv, said he knew he was putting fuel to the fire with the press release.

"We are not double dating," he said of Hartmann and Bachkoff. "I want people to get their side of the story and see why they felt the Improv had to be put to death."

Anderson alleges that the Tempe Improv was warned that it would be put out business if it didn't merge with Stand Up Live prior to the new club's opening. He also says the club began losing contracts with comedians, who were lured to Stand Up Live with the promise of working additional dates at clubs owned in Florida and Kentucky by Bachkoff.

"It's everybody," Anderson says. "David Spade, Pablo Francisco Dana Carvey, Norm McDonald, Christopher Titus, Kevin Pollak, Craig Shoemaker - all the guys that used to play regularly at the Improv are now going to Stand Up Live."

He adds that the Tempe Improv used to deal with 10 talent agents to secure comics. That number has dwindled down to three.

"We basically became a club non-grata," Anderson says. "We'd been marginalized."

The club wound up with acts that were lesser draws, which resulted in small crowds in the 500-seat venue.

"All those empty seats have a psychological effect," he says. "That tells the audience that this place is dead. And sure enough, that's what we are now - dead."

Well, not entirely. Anderson says a children's day camp will take over the space next to the Improv showroom, along with a new club called the Upbeat Lounge that will present sketch comedy and dancing in conjunction with radio station Latino Vibe 95.1.

As far as the Improv's showroom, Anderson plans to renovate it and reopen in the future. However, he emphasizes it will not be a comedy club.

"It's an art form with a limited audience, and it's just bloated here right now," he says. "There's not room for two clubs with 500 seats."